


Burden of Proof

by AzzureThunder, Sumariajane



Series: A Women's World [4]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, BAMF Jo, F/F, F/M, Lots of Cuddling, Mentions of Rape, Protective Jo, Rape Culture, Sad Patty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-05
Updated: 2016-02-05
Packaged: 2018-05-18 08:18:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5912173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzzureThunder/pseuds/AzzureThunder, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sumariajane/pseuds/Sumariajane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Please take this with creative license and a grain of salt.</p><p>This was written at the very START of the Kane allegations of 2015-2016 season. </p><p>We are posting it now after everything has settled down. </p><p>Please proceed with caution.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Burden of Proof

**Author's Note:**

> Please take this with creative license and a grain of salt.
> 
> This was written at the very START of the Kane allegations of 2015-2016 season. 
> 
> We are posting it now after everything has settled down. 
> 
> Please proceed with caution.

Patty felt lost, not only had her “big brother” gotten traded away but now her name was all over the media. People were making a huge deal out of it and she should have listened to her sisters when they told her not to go on tumblr and see what everyone was talking about. 

She can’t believe some of the things she sees, and, well just really needed her girlfriend’s calming touch, to tell her it would be all ok, that someone wasn’t jumping to conclusions and heads over to Jo’s place, knocking quietly, not sure how Jo is going to react. Inside the captain is lying on the couch, and trying to take everything in that she’s learned, which is surprisingly not much. All of it is assumptions. 

Jo gets up and answers the door, her eyes sparking with emotions, “Patty . . .” She says quietly, wanting her to explain. 

Patty has been on the verge of tears since she got in her car to head over and just buries her face in Jo’s shoulder, hugging her girlfriend tightly. She knows that Jo wants answers but right now she just needs to know she isn’t alone. 

The brunette holds her closely, she wanted answers, she wanted something, but she knew Patty, and knew that the best thing to do was to just hold her close and wait. Jo wraps Patty up in her arms and carries her to the couch and cuddles her close, “Shhh, it’ll be ok. I’ll be here for you.”

Patty just folds in on herself as Jo takes care of her and doesn’t ask questions. Her tears rolls down her face and onto Jo’s shirt steadily, soaking the shirt. Patty feels her shoulder shake with the the intensity of her sobs and all she feels is relief. Knowing that her girlfriend is willing to wait and listen for her to explain and not jump to conclusions like everyone else has. Her own siblings having all but ignored her since news had broken. 

Holding the blonde tightly, head resting on her chest Jo lets Patty cry herself into exhaustion, all the while scrolling through her phone looking for new information on the situation. She carries the smaller girl into the bedroom and tucks her into bed, smoothing her hair away from her face. “Oh, Patty, I really hope this is all going to be ok . . . I really do . . .”

Patty doesn’t know when she fell asleep but she wakes up gasping and shoving anything near her out of the way, which to her disappointment is only blankets and pillows. Patty’s eyes start to get teary again and she roughly wipes at them, sick of crying. Looking around the room she is in she know she is safe but her heart keeps racing and she quickly stands and heads out to the living room, hoping Jo is still here. 

Jo is there, curled in a blanket and watching the news on low, with her phone still in her hand. She looks up when Patty walks in and smiles slightly, “Hey, calmed down a little? Want another cuddle?” She asks, sitting up and making room, opening the blanket to invite her in.

Patty lets out a watery laugh and curls up next to Jo, resting her sweaty with panic hand on the other woman’s sternum, feeling her heart beat. Patty consciously works to bring her heartbeat in sync. As her heart rate slows she searches for the words to explain, knowing that Jo was going to ask. 

“Take your time. Yes, I want to know . . . but I trust you Patty, I know you’ll tell me, and you’ll tell me everything. I believe I know you, and that this . . .isn’t what it seems. So calm down first, relax as much as you can, and talk whenever you're ready, I can wait.” She says, wrapping the blanket around her and cuddling her close, resting her lips on the blonde’s forehead.

Patty melts into her girlfriend’s arms and gives a half smile. “I…” She stops and lets out a sarcastic laugh. “I don’t want them to… We worked too hard to get here, I don’t want to… Jeopardize that. My name was suppose to stay out of it, they told me it was anonymous.” Pat looks down at her hands and takes a deep breath. “We worked to hard to be seen as tough as the guys, as good as them. I don’t want to be seen as weak, they will use it and say between being weak and this… It will be an excuse to get rid of us.” She closes her eyes and balls her hands into fists. 

“Patty . . .?” Jo asks, a fearful look in her eye that was clouded over with confusion, “What, happened? Are you ok? Because you’re definitely not weak, I’ve seen you take down the guys and then some when you want too. No matter what this is, I can promise you that it won’t affect us girls, I’ll make sure of it.”

Patty stands up quickly, her shoulders set in an angry tense position. “YOU SOUND JUST LIKE THEM! YOU CAN TAKE THEM DOWN! WHY DIDN’T YOU?...” Patty takes a deep breath and quietly says, half sobbing. “I tried to, I just… I couldn’t.” She drops to the floor her knees giving out under her and curls up into a ball, trying to make herself as small as possible. 

Jo jumps to her side and instantly wraps around her, not to tight as to constrict, but enough to be tight and safe, “I didn’t mean it like that I’m sorry. I love you, I-I . . . .I’m sorry . . .” She says her own voice cracking when the most possible reality weighs down on her and makes her heart constrict. “I know you, I love you, I’m here, I won’t let you go, not anymore I promise.” 

Patty rests her hand on Jo’s arm. “It was suppose to stay anonymous, victims are allowed their privacy. And then it got out…” Patty takes a few deep breaths, trying to blink the tears away. “I would rather be cast as the villain than have that used against me on the ice. I don’t think I could handle Doughty or.. any of them… saying those vile things to me.” 

“If a single dick bag wants to use something like that against you on the ice, then they are just as bad in my book, and I will be damn sure they get a fucking kicking for it. That’s not . . . Consent is everything and if you don’t follow that, then, then, Fuck Them!” She says, holding her even closer, and kissing her forehead, hands rubbing soothing circles down her back, “I will talk to some people if you want, try to get this away from public eye quicker . . .”  
Patty shakes her head. “No, that will make it worse Jo! and you know it. ‘oh, Patricia Kane paid someone off so they dropped charges’ you know it! No one believes me. Not my sisters, not even Jack! He even told me that he was disappointed in me for ‘lying’ to him Jo!” Patty runs her hands up and down her arms, nails digging in. “I can’t even sleep without feeling it.” She says so quiet she doesn’t think Jo catches it.

“Oh no Patty . . .” Her breath catches and she blinks away tears. Her strong little firecracker, being reduced to such a flickering light, it was heartbreaking. “I am going to help you, ok? With whatever happens, i promise.” She says, burying her nose in the curly blonde locks, when a thought gets in her head, “Did you go to the hospital, yet?”

Patty nods silently. She had gone to the hospital, they had done a rape kit, which to be honest was probably worse than being raped. She was drunk when it happened, her memories were blurry. But the rape kit, she was hung over and getting asked all these questions and being poked and they had even pulled a few strands of hair. That was the only way they would know she wasn’t lying. In 2 months the DNA testing would come back. The nurse had confirmed that there was bruising consistent with being raped. 

“Ok, good. Do . . .” She bites her lip and shakes her head at herself, “If you don’t want to, that's completely fine, I don’t need to know exactly, But, do you want to talk about what happened that night?” Jo asks, running a hand through Patty’s hair. 

Patty buries her head farther into the other woman’s shoulder before pulling back. “I threw a party, the ones i throw every summer. A bunch of people came, all friends of friends and the like. I.. I drank...a lot. Stanley cup champions are allowed to, right? and He… He was just there, in my space. kind of like how Jamie is always right in our faces, always there. Not mean, but there. Like Shaw when he wants attention, annoying, pest like… And I just ignored him.. and then…. Jo, he wouldn’t stop touching me. I couldn’t push him off, and…” Patty stops talking as she feels the tears starting again. 

Jo brushes them away gently, and just holds her closer until they calm down again, “It’s ok, do you know who it was? Or at least who brought him? This is . . .I’m so sorry I wasn’t there, Patty . . .” She says somewhat quickly, all her thoughts in a big jumbled mess, trying to make sense of everything and all the emotions in her heart.

Patty shake her head no. “I don’t know, He had a tattoo between his hips ‘ride or die’ It looked so stupid, The police they kept asking if I was sure I had said no, Was I sure I really hadn’t wanted it. I.. I almost outed us Jo.” She pushes her head back into her girlfriend’s neck, afraid to see the other’s face. 

“You should have, and if It’ll help then I say we should! And Fuck those police, Even if you say yes when you’re drunk, it’s not proper consent. They should teach this shit in schools, I swear.” She says with a sigh, “It’s always the victims fault, god I hate people.” She says with a tone, to try and make Patty smile, even though she was 100% serious.

Patty smiles into Jo’s neck and sits back. “Nope, I want you all to myself for longer. Bowman was confused when he was told I was being investigated for raping a guy, He might have accidentally walked in on me and a girl when I lived with him. I know he believes me but… Q… Jo, he was pissed. I feel a TON of bag skates in the future.” She leans back into her girlfriend and listens to the other’s heartbeat.

“Did he believe you though? Because he can’t punish you for this, that isn’t right, and if he tries too then he will have to deal with me in his face.” She says, though lowering her voice, trying to calm her semi-rapid heartbeat for Patty to listen too. “You got hurt, not the other way around, they can’t punish you for breaking a leg in game, they can’t punish you for this.”

Patty shrugs. “It doesn’t matter, nothing I say will change it.” Patty knew she was already getting punished for this. Her sisters, Her brother, her parents were all punishing her for this. Nothing she could or would say would change that, She knew what people were saying online. The worst part was, she was starting to believe them. 

“No. Patty that’s fucking bullshit. This isn’t your fault, and you will not get punished for this, I promise. Anyone saying anything different will get a foot up their ass from me. I will do anything for you, and if right now what you need is convincing that you’re worth more than you’re feeling right now, I will spend the rest of my days doing that for you.” She says grabbing the other by the shoulders and looking her in the eye.

Patty closes her eyes and tilts her head down. “Don’t. Don’t kick anyone’s ass, just… let it go Jo. No one will believe me.” Patty had heard the horror stories from other women who had dropped hockey in juniors. Patty had gotten lucky up until now, now she joined the ranks. Before she could finish her thought she shoved off of Jo quickly and ran to the bathroom, puking up what little she had kept down since getting back to Chicago. 

Jo is immediately following her, but stays at the doorway, before getting her a glass of water and sitting next to her. “I want to be really angry at you for what you just said, but I won’t, because I don’t know if that’s the depression and the fear talking or you. So right now I’m just going to get you feeling better, and I’m not letting it go.”Patty nods and leans into Jo taking small sips of water. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Patty had slept at Jo’s every night since she had told her what had happened, last night had been to different, except that she had managed to sleep later than the captain. She wasn’t exactly sure how though. Enjoying the empty bed for a second, Patty spread out as far as she could, enjoying the mountain of blankets on the bed. Her phone vibrating caught her attention pulling her out of her little piece of heaven. Unlocking her phone, she sees one of her hockey apps having a notifications. She knew she should have turned them off when all of this started, but what if she missed someone getting traded? 

As soon as she saw what it was for she threw her phone across the room, her screen hitting the wall and shattering before pulling herself under as many of the blankets as she could. 

From downstairs where she was making breakfast, Jo could hear the crash and hurries up the stairs and notices the broken phone as she hurries to the blanket lump. “Patty? Patty? Are you ok?” She asks, keeping her voice as steady and calm as she could, the worst thoughts coming to her mind.

Underneath the blankets Pat is shaking with fury. “Stupid Fucking NHL. STUPID FUCKING PEOPLE! FUCK THEM! MAYBE I SHOULD LEAVE THE FUCKING NHL!” She screams her voice cracking randomly throughout her rant. Things were starting to get better, it had been quiet for a week. She had thought maybe it was blowing over. She had thought wrong. 

“Shhh, Patty, Patty, what’s wrong? What happened?” She asks, moving to remove the covers but just getting them pulled tighter over the shaking bundle, “Please don’t do anything rash . . . We’ll work out what ever happened.”

“The cover. It is just you now! They FUCKING TOOK ME OFF because of the FUCKING ALLEGATIONS!” Patty’s voice is replaced by a big shaky sob. That cover was for them, for winning the cup a 3rd time, for bringing hockey back to Chicago. Now, it would be another reminder of being raped.

“What?! No . . .” She quickly takes out her phone and looks it up, before tossing it angrily behind her, “It’ll . . . It’ll be ok, this season you’ll prove them wrong and make them put you back and then some, they’ll replace me with another picture of you! And . . .Oh . . . “She trails off knowing her words were filled with empty promises and sighs, “I’m sorry. . .”

Patty just sobs louder under the blankets, the blob of blankets moving towards Jo, Patty’s small hand reaching out and grabbing at Jo. There is a sad sounding version of Pat’s ringtone for her brother going off and she tries her best to ignore it, but knowing Jack is calling makes her want to scream. She misses when her brother trusted her completely. 

Jo tosses a pillow at the half broken sound, muffling it, as she crawls into the cover blob and hugs Patty close, whispering pointless words of encouragement, and countless declarations of love and acceptance. “If they want rid of you, then I’m gone too . . . we are a package deal and always have been. If they can’t trust you, then they don’t trust me.”

Patty laughs sadly, clinging to Jo. “Going to join me in the women’s league too?” As she finishes asking her question Jo’s phone starts to ring on the nightstand, the ringtone she added for Pat’s family. Both women freeze, the only reason it would be going off is it something had happened. The last time any of Pat’s family had called Jo was when Pat’s grandpa died. Patty scrambles out of the blanket and just misses the call. 

The captain collects her girlfriend and bundles her back on the bed, before grabbing the phone, “I got it.” Jo says immediately calling them back and pulling Patty in close for a cuddle and to hear the phone. “Hello? Is everything ok?” She asks the second it’s picked up.

Jack picks up and lets out a Thank god. “Do you know where Patty is? It is important, she didn’t answer and now it goes right to voicemail.” He asks quickly, panic lacing his voice. Patty tenses even more. “I’m here Jacks.” she says loud enough for him to hear. “Mom, she got pictures in the mail. Patty, I am so sorry. We should have believed you, We.. I.. Patty they are bad. You.” He chokes up trying to apologize. 

Jo shakes her head and even lets out a grumble of disgust, “The fuck? What the fuck does this jackass think he can accomplish? I’ll fucking break him.” She seethes, holding Patty closer, sensing the younger girl was going to cry again. “This is fucking sick, but, it’ll help your case too Patty . . .” She says trying to find something good in this

Patty feel like her whole world is caving in. There are pictures and her mom has seen them. “Call the cops Jack. They… They need to see them. I… fuck.” She says knowing it was going to come out sooner rather than later that she was involved but not how they thought. She could already hear the chirps in her head, the thinly veiled compliments she would receive on the ice. 

“Call the cops and keep an eye out for anything else too.” Jo agrees, cuddling Patty closer and sighing into her hair, “I know what you’re thinking, and only a handful of guys will say anything, and they are scum anyway.”

Patty nods and grabs Jo's phone. “Jacks, I need to go call someone. I will call later, ok?” She asks before quickly dialing Brisson. “Jo, I did not expect to hear from you. Your partner in crime is not doing so well” Patty snorts. “It’s me, not Jo. I.. I need to.” Patty takes a deep breath. “I need to publicly say I was raped. My mom was mailed pictures, I don’t want them to end up on websites.” Both Jo and Pat hear Brisson’s sharp intake of breath before they hearing typing in the background. “Fuck me. Patty, why didn’t you say so sooner? I could have.. Fuck! Are you okay? no, no of course you’re not okay. I’ll get right on that, Does Jo know? you need to tell her. I will call you once the statement is written and.. Yeah.” Brisson trails off the call ending quickly. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The game had ended, game 26 with at least a point and the media was going to ask her a million questions about it.

“Pat, You have been on quite the streak recently, is there any particular reason you think this has happened?”

Pat smiled, trust the media to as the same questions every night. “Yeah, You could say I have had the burden to prove I deserve to be here.”


End file.
